F
or Stephanie Hartshorn,
rural architecture is bred
in the bone. Generations
of her family have lived in
Colorado where her earliest
ancestors were homesteaders.
She says, “I am always
looking at things and sensing
their history. It’s almost as if I am
appreciating it for all its years of
service. I’m quietly celebrating
its life. As a nod to my previous
career in architecture, structural
themes often arise in my work.
I have always loved the details
of design: rhythms and complex
beauty in the lines and curves
of our manmade and natural
worlds.”
She builds her barns, their
surfaces and their solids and
voids with thick application of
paint. Barn Cadence literally
presents the rhythms of the
openings in the barn’s façade—
each with its own purpose, each
contributing to the composition
of the whole.
Jeremy Browne paints farm
scenes in the fall or winter
allowing him “to focus all of my
attention on the light and mood
of my painting, and not focus
on the foliage of a tree. This
allows me to explore new ways
to produce interesting lighting
effects in my landscapes.”
A full moon casts an
ethereal light on the silo, barns
and ice house of a farm in
Quitting Time.
Browne grew up and lives
outside of Toronto, Ontario. On
family camping expeditions to
northern Ontario he became
familiar with the vast landscapes
and farming communities of
the region and gravitated to
them as his subject matter when
he became an artist. Browne
reduces the detail of his farm
scenes but using his earth-R U R A L
Renderings
BY JOHN O’HERN- Matthew Sievers, Barn
Shadows, oil, 36 x 48"
COLLECTOR'S FOCUS
FARMS AND BARNS